Until We Meet Again
by Syaoran no Miko
Summary: Hisoka meets another green-eyed boy by the sea. X-over with Tokyo Babylon.


until we meet again

Shi Lin (silver_phoenix@usa.net) 

Notes: This is a Tokyo Babylon/Yami no Matsuei crossover. Spoilers for Kyoto arc of Yami (tanks 7-8) and TB vol 5. Rather screwy timeline - I'm assuming Yami and TB operate on the same timeframe for this fic. Forgive. ^^; Shounen-ai implications, but blink and you won't see them. (No, it's *not* Subaru/Hisoka. .) 

-------------------------------------------- insert standard disclaimers here ------------------------------------------

**Until We Meet Again**  
= tasogare no shounen-tachi = (1) 

  
Evening. An impish ocean breeze was tousling his hair; a lone seagull shrieked as it dived into his field of vision and ducked out as quickly as it had entered. 

Kurosaki Hisoka shifted position on the large rock that was his perch and pushed a few stray wheat-gold strands out of his eyes. Tried to relax, with more success than he'd previously had. This was a nice beach as beaches went in Japan, with clean white sand and balmy winds. And it was, as far as he could see, deserted. That was best of all. He *needed* the quiet, needed the solitude that was near impossible to get back in Enma-chou. 

He leaned back on both hands. Looked at fluffy clouds drifting languidly past, tinted orange by the semicircle of molten crimson-amber touching a sparkling horizon, and blocked out everything that had happened in the previous weeks. Refused to think about Oriya, and the subsequent revelation of the futility of hatred against his tormentor. Refused to think about Tsuzuki curled up in Touda's fire, purple eyes bleak and void against the shiki's black flames of death. Refused to think of Muraki still alive and the unbroken curse on his body. 

*Tried* to refuse, anyway. 

Hisoka swore under his breath and shut his eyes tightly. No use. Even here it wasn't any good. No matter where he was, the images of their Kyoto trip would come back to haunt him, dancing mockingly at the edges of his mind with tortured clarity. 

They hurt.  
He hurt.  
And yet Tsuzuki's unhealed scars hurt more than both combined. They weren't physical, but - 

// A scream split the night's silence.   
"Tsuzuki. Oi, Tsuzuki. Wake UP! You're having a nightmare!"  
Purple eyes snapped open, staring past him at some horror he was unable to touch. The stark grieving in them was almost more than he could bear. // 

I want power, he thought painfully. If I had been strong enough, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened, maybe *he* wouldn't have been hurt... 

"Excuse me?" The voice that cut into his reverie was gentle, a soft alto coming from behind. He started and turned to see a slender boy about his age standing on the rock. He was all in black, clad in a long-sleeved turtleneck and jeans. A flat-topped black hat was on his head and black silk gloves covered his hands. Two large eyes were emeralds that outstripped the colour of the real stones. 

Hisoka's eyes narrowed slightly. *This* was no ordinary human. For one, there were lingering traces of otherworld spiritual energy about him that humans were definitely not supposed to have. Added to a shimmering aura of _magic_, pulsing with concealed power to his reikan, the boy was someone he wouldn't care to turn his back on in a battle. Pushing away a brief stab of envy, the shinigami focused his mind for any stray thoughts that would clue him to this stranger's purpose, but could detect nothing more than mild curiosity and surprise. 

The boy smiled, a gesture open and sunny. "Would I be disturbing you if I sat here? I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone else would come to this rock. It's so out of the way." 

"It's all right," Hisoka said, moving to make room for him. "I should apologise for intruding on your private place. Would it be better if I left?" 

The other looked distressed. "Please, don't! This is a public beach, after all - anyone can come here!" 

Hisoka blinked. The boy removed his hat and let the wind toss dark hair back from a heart-shaped face. "Although you are right. This rock *is* something of a private place for me." He paused. "May I know your name?" 

"...Kurosaki Hisoka." 

Another smile. "Sumeragi Subaru. Pleased to meet you." 

Sumeragi...the name rang a bell, and he frowned slightly, trying to place it. After a few moments his eyes widened, and he gazed at the young man beside him with new respect. "Onmyouji," he said quietly, seeing his companion start in shock. "You are, aren't you?" 

Subaru nodded, looking uncomfortable. "I suppose you've heard of my family." 

"Yes." Now he recalled the chatter of servants back in his ancestral home, about the ancient Sumeragi dynasty that had been protecting Japan from darkness for longer than anyone could remember. He'd had some basic training in onmyoujutsu before joining the Shokan Division, and he could appreciate the effort it took to summon and control the magic for rituals if one hadn't started practising from childhood. All the same, that training had been the reason why he had adjusted to his powers as a shinigami so easily. 

A mere passerby would never have seen, much less believed, that this delicately attractive boy held enough power inherent to level Tokyo once he came into full strength. It was even possible that the young onmyouji beside him was the Clan Head, but Hisoka would not ask if the Sumeragi was unwilling to say it of his own volition. Which he assuredly would be, if he had any sense at all. Bad enough that Hisoka had recognised his name and what it stood for; to reveal something so important would have been tantamount to suicide. If Hisoka had been an enemy. Which he was not, but that wasn't the issue at stake. 

"Kurosaki-san." It was Subaru's turn to frown, smooth forehead creased in thought. "Your surname sounds very familiar, but I can't recall where I heard it before..." 

Something inside him chilled. Tightened and finally numbed, the way it always did whenever the subject of his family came up. "You might have," he finally managed to reply. "They're one of the older lineages from Shinakawa." 

---- 

"Shinakawa...ah!" The dark-haired boy brightened. He hadn't missed the fact that Kurosaki-san had used 'they're' rather than 'we're' in referring to his ancestral line, but discreetly chose to ignore it. "I've heard Grandmother mention you once or twice before. Your family specialises in the teaching and practice of traditional Japanese martial arts, doesn't it?" 

Kurosaki-san was concentrating on the view in front of them. "You could say that." Subaru noted the odd lack of inflection in his voice and decided not to press any further. He didn't make a habit of dissecting the familial feuds of others unless his professional services were required, and even then he seriously doubted Kurosaki-san needed any help in *that* area. 

For Kurosaki-san wasn't human. 

He didn't fit the category of ghosts or lost souls, but he definitely didn't belong in the Ningenkai. Subaru didn't know *what* he was, but he could sense that he didn't harbour any ill intent towards Tokyo or any of its denizens by visitng it. That was a relief, and proof enough that he wasn't evil, whatever else he might be. 

No, the almost painfully slim boy sitting next to him wasn't evil, but he *was* troubled. That much was obvious from the tense, defensive set of his body and shadowed grief in the luminous eyes so like his own. Subaru was concerned. Kurosaki-san wasn't a spirit per se, nor was he human - but *nobody* should have to be so unhappy. 

And so he had approached the figure curled up on the rock, wanting to see if there was any way at all in which he could give a little comfort, but it looked like it was beyond his abilities as a normal person... 

Kurosaki-san suddenly twitched, looking somewhat disgruntled. Subaru blinked. "Is something wrong?" 

"I think I should tell you to guard your thoughts around me, Sumeragi-san," the blonde boy said in a tone that was - surprised? A touch confused and resigned, perhaps? "Call me something of an empath - I can pick up what you're thinking if you don't shield yourself." 

It took a moment for Subaru to register this, and he flushed in dismay when realisation impacted. "I-I'm so sorry!" he gasped. "Then you know - I - you -" 

There was a faint gleam of what *might* have been amusement in the other's eyes as he nodded. "Onmyouji," he said dryly, meeting Subaru's gaze. "It was wishful thinking on my part to hope you hadn't discovered I'm not supposed to be here." 

Subaru flushed again. "Please accept my apologies, Kurosaki-san - it was just surprising to see a spirit who *didn't* have some, erm, unfinished business to settle in this city." He hesitated, then added, "Although you couldn't really be called a 'spirit', could you." 

Green looked into green unblinkingly. "No." 

"I won't ask you to say anything about what you are," the onmyouji said carefully. "But if there's something bothering you...maybe you'd like to talk about it? It might make you feel better, perhaps..." 

Kurosaki-san stared at him for so long Subaru felt himself turning red another time. "I-I really *am* sorry!" he squeaked. "Of course, it's none of my business...please, ignore that..." 

But Kurosaki-san shook his head, wheat-gold strands stained amber by the dying sun, and eyed him with a mixture of curious bemusement. "I'm not upset. What I don't understand is Sumeragi-san's concern for someone he never saw before today. Why? How can you trust me when you don't know what I am?" 

"...I'm not sure myself," Subaru confessed, still red. "Maybe my job is affecting me, but it's just...I don't like to see others sad. That's all. I know you don't have any evil intents. That's good enough for me." He half-expected the other boy to look more confused, or even disbelieving, but Kurosaki-san merely turned to gaze at the sea, an oddly thoughtful expression shadowing his delicate features. 

"Someone I know once told me the same thing," he quietly remarked. "I didn't believe him. I thought he was an idiot, that nobody besides him would think like that. But maybe I was wrong." He bit his lower lip, facing Subaru again. "I'm weak, Sumeragi-san. And I hate it. I want to be strong so I can protect what's important to me. If I had power like yours...maybe I could have stopped things from going wrong." 

Subaru was silent. 

"Kurosaki-san," he finally said. "I don't pretend to understand your situation, but all I can say is...great power isn't always strength. Sometimes, things happen where all the power one wields can't do anything." 

// "Somebody was knocked down by a car!"   
He'd ran, dropping the bento and shoving into the crowd with hasty apologies. Only to find, on breaking through to the scene of the accident, the body of the gentle old man whom the birds had loved crumpled on black cement in a pool of crimson blood...  
Shock. Horror. Disbelief.   
"As long as Sachiyo's happy..." 

"FATHER!!" // 

All the magic in the world hadn't let him save the old man, hadn't allowed him to leave this world without pain... 

// "That's why, if there's a [next time], you must live a life without regrets..."  
The woman had been speechless. She'd stared at him, then shut her eyes -   
"Thank you!"  
And departed in a swirl of energy. For good. // 

Yet he had managed to let the soul of that woman in the karaoke lounge find peace just by talking to her - 

Which was the greater strength, really? 

"Kurosaki-san, please believe me," he said earnestly. "Trust your heart more than the power you wield. It can give you the strength you need when power alone doesn't suffice." 

Pause. The other pair of verdant eyes was torn between doubt and an almost desperate longing to believe. 

"I...don't know," the blonde boy said slowly, reluctantly. "I'll think about it." 

Subaru smiled. "That's good enough."

By now the sun had almost disappeared below the shimmering horizon; bright orange-red had deepened to hues of soft indigo and blue. Kurosaki-san sighed and abruptly stood up. "I should be going now." He hesitated, not looking at him. 

"...Thank you." 

The onmyouji's smile softened as he got to his own feet. "Don't mention it. Only...would it be all right for you to tell me *what* you are exactly? I'm curious..." 

Kurosaki-san opened his mouth, forming words - syllables, rather. And his eyes - 

deeper than the sea before them...? 

"Subaru-kun~!" 

The Sumeragi yelped, whirling around to see a tall figure in a dark suit running towards him. "*There* you are! Hokuto-chan's having a fit! You were supposed to meet us at five, remember?" 

"S-Seishirou-san!" he stammered in dismay. "Sumimasen - I forgot all about it! I met this boy..." 

Seishirou-san easily leapt onto the rock beside him. "Boy?" He scanned the area. "I don't see anybody." 

Subaru turned back, but Kurosaki-san was gone. 

// Shi-ni-ga-mi... //   
Shinigami?   
Emerald eyes widened. 

"Subaru-kun, I'm hurt," the older man said piteously. "You mean you went on a date with another boy behind my back? How could you?" 

The young onmyouji blushed furiously. "Ch-chigau!" he wailed. "It wasn't like that at all!" 

"Then what *was* it like? Was he better-looking than me?" 

"Sei*shi*rou-saaan!" 

---- 

God of Death. 

Maybe someday I'll see you again. Until then...take care, Kurosaki Hisoka-san. 

---- 

"Hi-so-kaaa!" 

Tsuzuki scampered - that was the only word for it - up to him as he approached his house back in Enma-chou, dog ears and tail waving anxiously. "Where did you *go*?! I was worried sick! And Tatsumi gave me hell for not watching you properly!"

He stopped and looked at his partner. "Tadaima."

"Tadaima? TADAIMA?! I spent an hour looking for you before coming to wait here, and all you can say is THAT - wait a...?"

Amethyst eyes blinked, rounding in incredulity, and Tsuzuki smiled. A *real* smile, not the hollow mask of one he'd been wearing the past few weeks. 

"...Okaeri." 

"Hmph." Hisoka opened the gate and entered, a perky Tsuzuki-inu on his heels. If one simple word could erase some of the shadows from his eyes, then - 

---- 

If I could make him happy just by saying that... 

Maybe Sumeragi-san was right.   
Maybe. 

= owari = 

------------------ 

1)Roughly translates to 'teenagers of twilight'. ^^;  
2)I screwed Subby up. I'm sorry. . But he's never really interacted with folks his own age other than Hokuto, so...I *tried*. Come to think of it, Hisoka is screwed up too. o.o   
3)I blame Val-san for giving me inspiration. XD; Well, the article she wrote about the similarities between TB/Yami glomped and wouldn't let go, actually.  
4)I CRAVE C&C. ;_; Pleeeaasee, kind soul?


End file.
